Several people have seen a crocodile grabbing the body of a person last evening in the Kimbulawala canal, a tributary of the Diyawanna Oya.
It is said that those who saw the body being carried by the crocodile near the Kimbulawala bridge had also recorded it on their mobile phones.
It is yet to be ascertained whether the body of the victim was taken by the crocodile or the body of a person who had fallen into the Diyawanna Oya and died.
Several people who saw the body being carried by the crocodile have informed the 119 Police Emergency Response Unit. Accordingly, the Mirihana Police officers visited the spot and found the body abandoned by the crocodile in the canal. Accordingly, the police called the Navy and conducted a magisterial inquiry and took the body to the Kalubowila Hospital morgue.
The victim was identified as an 80-year-old resident of Thalawathugoda, a senior Mirihana police official said.
Police believe that the post-mortem examination today will be able to ascertain whether the man was caught by the crocodile after his death or whether he was killed by the crocodile.
